Face of the Stars
by Lenny-Darrent
Summary: Leonard Darrent,a bounty hunter wandering Lylat,gets into a little more trouble than he bargained for when the Lalatian capital charges him with the mission of infiltrating a secret facility on a distant planet.He'll need the aid of Star Fox to survive..
1. chapters 123

The name is Leonard Darrent, for the past two years before my life turned upside down I had been working as a bounty hunter. That is, until a group of researchers from Katina discovered an interstellar route to a solar system known only as GTX-580289. When they arrived in GTX-580289, they encountered a technologically advanced race calling themselves the Sii'K'Rha, being a somewhat docile people, allowed the researchers to explore one of their M-Class planets, and then return to Lylat immediately afterwards.  
  
About a month later, the last of the old Venomian army, hardly a threat at the time, Learned of the Sii'K'Rha and exploited their strong belief justice in order to form an alliance. They claimed that the Lylatian government started an uprising and overthrew them and them confined them to Venom, which of course is completely the opposite of the truth. Unfortunately, the Sii'K'Rha believed it. With the aid of the Sii'K'Rha's advanced technology, the Venomians could easily overpower Lylat.  
  
I was commissioned as something of a freelance double agent by Corneria to find out as much as possible about their weapons and technology. I was to pose as a security officer on one of their little known planetary installations. They probably chose me because they couldn't afford Fox McCloud's high hiring price with the preparation for a war effort of such a large scale, either that or they were simply too stubborn to risk one of their own agents on such a high risk operation. I agreed to it mainly because I needed a change of pace from the monotonous task of traversing Lylat in search of paying jobs. I soon began to wonder if it was really such a good idea. But nonetheless it started a long chain of events that turned my world completely inside out and upside-down.  
  
  
  
Chapter 2 ________________________________________________________________________  
  
I sighed as I approached the designated landing point far outside the installation near a small outpost. "I hope this is really worth 123,000 Creds." I thought to myself. I approached the landing point using the latest of cloaking technology supplied by the government, I was also constantly hoping that their sensors weren't more advanced. Once I had landed, I reached behind the front pilot seat and grabbed a Monarch C28 Assault Rifle/Pulse Grenade Launcher and my two Trianch Twelve charge laser pistols. A quick thermal scan revealed fourteen personnel in the outpost, and apparently all in one room of which I was grateful. Once I'd made my way around to the entrance, I found one of the fourteen guarding the door. Quickly, I jumped behind a rock and switched the Assault Rifle to single shot instead of automatic, Then peering through the infrared scope, I put the crosshairs directly on my target's head. Right before I pulled the trigger, I felt that twinge of remorse I always get before taking a life, but I had adapted to it, and without so much as a sound, the target was dead. I also took the guard's blue and red uniform and keycard. I switched the assault rifle back to automatic, and entered in. Each of the startled staff jumped up and reached for their side arms, but it was already too late, in a matter of three seconds they, like the guard, were dead. Thinking that if there were fourteen guards in a single small outpost, the last thing I wanted to do was draw attention to myself until I was on the way out with the data. The large bulky assault rifle that the Cornerian Port Authorities issued me upon departure do just that. I walked over to one of the fallen Venomians; the poor kid couldn't have been more than sixteen in Cornerian years, not much younger than me. The feline furry was carrying some kind of assault rifle himself. The weapon was sleek and smooth, and only half the size as my own, but remembering that this was alien technology I was dealing with, I suspected it was at least two times as powerful. I grabbed the gun and headed through the door that read "Shuttle Hangar" in bold print. Luckily for me there was in fact a shuttle in there, I half expected the room to be empty. I clambered into the small craft and after deciphering the controls I looked around for some button or switch to open the hangar door, there was none. So, I decided to open it in the only other way I knew how, make my own opening. The somewhat mouse shaped craft was quite agile and fast, its speed was nearly that of my own LZ-15. I checked out what access codes I would need to bypass the base security as I steered toward my destination.  
  
  
  
Chapter 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
  
Once there, I found the nearest unguarded, unoccupied landing pad. After slipping through the automatic door, used my disguise to blend into a group of security officers patrolling the hall. The hall itself was like nothing I'd ever seen before; it was illuminated by some several odd, glowing spheres that gave it a luminescent look. I continued down the hall with the security detail until I found a sign reading "Secure Database Terminal" in large, bold print. The sign was glowing in the same way as the hall lights. I then entered the room, locked the door, and went over to the secure terminal, which was already on. While getting to the locked information on the terminal's monitor drew out two data cubes. The first shiny crystalline cube contained a virus to breach the terminal's security; the second was to hold the downloaded data. Just as I inserted the virus cube, there was a knock at the door and a voice, "Hey, what the? Who's in there? Open the door now!" Then there was a second voice "I think we might have an intruder." The first replied "Then report it you dolt! Where's your communicator, mine's busted?" "Umm, I think I left it in my quarters." "Rrr! Then just report back yourself, Grason!" "Fine, I'm going, ease off Kelt." That was a sure sign that I was running out of time. I had already uploaded the virus and bypassed the encryption codes. I immediately inserted the other cube. The door slid open, revealing "Kelt". I whirled around to find him pointing his assault rifle at me. I froze. "You Cornerian scum, did you actually think you could infiltrate this base? You will pay dearly for your lack of sense!" It was a good thing there were no lights in the terminal room besides the terminal monitor itself, because it was the one factor that would mean certain death if it were otherwise. The darkness concealed my hand, reaching slowly for one of my blasters. I grabbed it, lifted it up just as slowly, up to waist level, and pulled the trigger. Kelt let out a shocked scream as he went down. I jerked the data cube out of the terminal and ran out into the hall. Grason had already gotten backup. I pulled the alien like assault rifle from behind my back and sprayed the group of armed soldiers with what I guessed was some kind of laser shot. I quickly found out that wasn't an entirely accurate assumption. One of the troops that wasn't hit shot me in the left arm. It was an odd feeling, first I felt the searing pain as it burned through my fur and flesh, then my entire arm and shoulder went completely numb. Fear and panic gripped my mind as I raced down the hall towards the shuttle I burst through the door at the end of the oval hall, and blocked it using a large, heavy container sitting nearby. The troops were firing away at the container, they knew that they couldn't afford to let me escape. It would mean that their enemy would learn how to defend themselves and even counterattack if they were given enough time. The turrets that I saw as I approached the base came to life as I leapt into the shuttle. My eyes went to each of the controls, trying to remember each one's specific function. Finally I was off, and not easily at that. Not only were the turrets on the square towers pounding at the small ship's shielding, fighters were also launching from some unknown part of the base. One of the fighters streaked overhead, it resembled a scorpion where on its "tail", a heavier beam weapon than its two main cannons was mounted. It wasn't long before I caught sight of my Arwing X on the ground near the outpost. I desperately gunned the shuttle's accelerator and set it down once I was close enough to my ship. Apparently, the shuttle did have at least one advantage over the strange fighters; it had better air brakes. It stopped immediately in the air, while all the faster, heavier pursuers shot past. As I leapt out and scrambled to my Arwing X, a single, lagging fighter fired it's tail weapon and blew the shuttle into a million fragments of metal and circuitry. Luckily, I was already in my ship when all the debris from the explosion flew in my direction. Much to my surprise, the enemy weapons did even more damage to the Arwing X than the shuttle. However, it still only took seconds for me to jet away from the planet's rugged, light red terra firma and out of the atmosphere. I groaned in despair when I found out the fighters weren't the only one's alerted to my presence. There were also a large number of heavy starships waiting for me. First, you should know this, it is not easy to maneuver around a group of heavily armed cruisers while franticly setting in a hyperspace route, but I did it nonetheless. Taking a deep breath, I slumped back in the cockpit as the familiar blue glow covered my craft as it entered subspace. 


	2. chapters 456

Chapter 4 ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
"Ah, yes, Leonard Darrent, we were about to assume you were dead and send someone else." Said General Pepper, as I walked casually into his decorated office, he had old medals and pictures hanging everywhere. "Umm, yeah, thanks for the vote of confidence. When do I get paid?" "Wait just a minute, Mr. Darrent, we might still have need of your services, however I'll have a look at the data you collected, if you please." I handed over the data cube containing the vital information which he inserted into the reader, and pulled up on his desk monitor. I aparrently dozed off, because the next thing I knew he was just finishing checking over the files.about five hours later. Pepper spoke up, "From what I can tell, we shouldn't have much trouble adapting this technology to our own craft, they obviously didn't.. But, I can't issue an invoice for mass production of such ships without a tested prototype." "I see, but what does all this have to do with me?" "It actually doesn't have so much to do with you, as much as it involves your fighter craft." The general pulled up another document on his monitor. "The.LZ-15 Arwing X is it? According to the scans that took place when you passed through our security grid, she seems to be a quite verstile and combat capable craft." "Well, that's what I designed her to be, as much so as the LZ-14 used by Star Fox and more." Although I was a bit annoyed at his waste of time, I couldn't help feel a bit of pride as I described my personal, one-of -a-kind ship. "Yes, I'm sure you did. So, would you agree to test the alien technology on the Arwing X?" "Sure, as long as there aren't any major "cosmetic" changes." "I'm not sure that I can promise it, but I'll take that as a yes." "How long is it going to take then?" "The, necessary modifications will should be complete in about a week, but it's up to you how long your next mission for us will take." "Um, Next.Mission?" "Of course, did you forget the whole purpose of this operation? You are going to professionally test and record the results of your ships new combat abilities. Once the modifications are complete, you will rendezvous with Star Fox for a strike on a small squadron of enemy craft detected near Macbeth, and I ask that you make haste, this is a war after all. It should be a good test of your skills. Leonard Darrent, I hereby charge you with this mission." "Yes, but I." I started to protest. "Good luck and good day to you Mr. Darrent." I was surprised to be immediately escorted out of the office by two large armed guards, and quite roughly at that. That was clearly all the info I was going to get for now, so as I walked down the dull, drab hall, I set the Fox Comet on a remote flight course for the nearest hangar via wrist control. I was wondering what exactly those modifications would be.  
Chapter 5 ____________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________  
Hi. Lilandra Miran here, some call me Lilly or Lil, most times they get slapped when they call me that, so don't try it. Anyway, the first time I met Leonard Darrent was really quite awkward to say the least. One cause for this was that he showed up at 0:500, buzzing the hailing signal repeatedly. I generally don't like being woke up that early. So I walked up the hall and over both flights of steps to the communications room, I wouldn't have had to walk all the way there while still asleep If I had fixed the speakerphone in my quarters the week before. Oh, wait, before I go any further I should probably mention that at the time I was aboard the Great Fox. Why? you might ask. Because I had joined Star Fox a month earlier, I was the only girl there besides Krystal and frankly she got on my nerves a lot, but so did the long, boring hours working, so what the hell. Ok, back to the subject. I got to the Com Room and flipped on the monitor. A somewhat tired looking Silverfox appeared on screen, I'm sure you can guess who it was. (also, most Silverfoxes are entirely black as obsidian except for a small bit of gray.) Len Immediately blurted out. "I have to speak to-...wait a minute, who are you?" "I'm a new recruit here, and very pissed about you calling this early. By the way, who are you supposed to be, the image of death incarnate?" "No." he said in an annoyed voice. "Leonard Darrent, known as Lenny sometimes even Len, I'm a bounty hunter/mercenary for hire. And, sorry for the inconvenience I actually need to speak to Fox McCloud." "Something tells me your not talking about everyone getting around a campfire toasting marshmallows." "No, official business, a combat mission to be exact.." "I'll get him but I doubt that he'll appreciate being up any more than me." "I'll bet." Lenny replied. I paged Fox, after a few tries, he finally woke up. A groggy voice answered. "What is it Lilandra?" "A, Leonard Darrent says he needs to talk to you about official business." "Oh great, the physical embodiment of negativity again. Is it really that important?" "I hope so, for his sake. Fox, you know this guy?" "Yeah, he was in a few dogfights with us. I'm not sure if he was more of a harm than help." Lenny apparently was hearing this and he rolled his eyes. I said to him. "You're not exactly the model of popularity around here are you?" He didn't reply. Fox said "I guess I'll be right down." And then closed the comlink.  
Chapter 6 ____________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________  
I stared with some resentment at the vidscreen aboard the Fox Comet. I must admit I did feel really awkward calling that early, but I had to the Venomian squadron that I had orders to destroy would be moving out of range on their patroll in about twenty-four hours. Lilandra sighed and said as fox walked in half dressed , "Well, if no one else cares, I think I'll see if I can salvage the rest of the night." She walk out of the room slowly swishing her tail back and forth and Fox, looking as annoyed and disdainful as possible took her seat at the monitor. "Ok, Len, what could you possibly want now?" I replied," I might want to be payed more, I might want a better home ship, or I might want to notify you that under orders from Corneria, I am to aid you on a combat mission." "Ok, so why you, and why now?" He didn't seem to believe me. "Why me? Because my ship has been outfitted with prototype adaptations of alien technologies. Why now? Because the squadron I have to test them on will be moving out of range soon. That's why." "No offense, but that ship of yours doesn't look like it could defend itself against a fly, with or without advanced tech upgrades." "Not this ship, the one in it's cargo bay!" "Fine, I'll look at your mission invoice and then decide, you have permission to dock. I guess that you'll need a place to stay as well?" "Negative, I'm fine with what I have." I switched off the comlink and headed for the waiting docking bay on the Great Fox. 


End file.
